Andy Murray backs Jack Draper to reach world No. 1: “He can get right to the top of the world ranking”

Andy Murray congratulated his compatriot Jack Draper on becoming the new British No. 1 and stated that he has the potential to reach the top of the rankings. The 22-year-old won his first professional title on Sunday at the Stuttgart Open, defeating Matteo Berrettini 3-6, 7-6(5), 6-4.

Draper surpassed Cameron Norrie in the ATP rankings and achieved his highest ranking as world No. 31. Murray, 37, was the top-ranked British player from 2006 to 2017 and praised his compatriot, believing he could be the next Brit to reach world No. 1.

Murray had an unfavorable start to the grass swing after being defeated in the first round of the Stuttgart Open by Marcos Giron (3-6, 4-6). The three-time Grand Slam champion then traveled to the Queen’s Club Championship, where he will debut on Tuesday and shares the draw with Draper.

While waiting for his debut against Alexei Popyrin, Murray spoke to the media at a press conference and took the opportunity to praise Draper: “Jack, I think, has bigger goals to aspire to than being British No. 1,” he said. “In my opinion, he can get right up to the top of the game, right to the top of the world rankings.”

Murray, who has dealt with injuries for several years of his career, spoke about Draper’s work ethic despite also suffering several injuries in his short career: “He genuinely loves the sport,” added Murray. “He is really into it, he works really hard and I think grass is a brilliant surface for him. I think he’ll do really well over the years on the surface.”

“It’s amazing for him to win his first tournament and obviously I’m delighted for him. This year has been tricky for him and it could have looked a whole lot different as well, a lot more positive than it has been, because he’s lost a number of extremely close matches.”

“You change a couple of those results and all of a sudden he’s up easily in the top 20 in the world,” the former world No. 1 added. “In my eyes, he’s definitely playing good enough to be right up there.”

Jack Draper finally lifted his first professional title after two lost finals in the 2023 Sofia Open and 2024 Adelaide International. The young Brit had a remarkable performance this time in Stuttgart, showing composure in tense moments, winning all four tie-breaks he played, including one in the final against Berrettini when he was already a set down and the Italian had the chance to take the title.

“It was a really tough match, but really happy to win my first title. It means so much to me,” said Draper after the match. “There were a lot of tough moments in the last year or so, and it’s been up and down, but I’m really, really glad with the way I played. I think it’s a testament to the work I’ve been doing.”

The new world No. 31 acknowledged that becoming the top-ranked player in his country was one of his goals: “It’s always something that any British player wants to achieve,” he said. “I’ve always had Cam (Norrie), Dan [Evans], Andy (Murray) ahead of me and they have been such amazing role models and have been at the top of the game so it’s been hard to catch them up.

“I want to keep on climbing higher and my goal is to be a top, top player in the world and if that’s British No. 1 then great. And if someone is ahead of me then they are obviously doing an amazing job too.”